This invention relates, in general, to toasters and, more particularly, to a control therefor.
The invention is incorporated in a popup-type of toaster, such toasters at one time being used solely for toasting bread. Recently, food manufacturers have been marketing foods, either frozen or nonfrozen, which can be accommodated by conventional popup toasters.
It is common in conventional automatic toasters such as these to have a "doneness" control which, in effect, changes the length of time of the toasting cycle to either increase or decrease the surface browning of the article being toasted; however, it has been found, especially in frozen foods, to adequately warm the inside of the article with such a toaster requires a cycle duration of such lengths that the surface becomes burnt.
One solution to the problem is the provision of a toaster which can be selectively operated at a normal toasting wattage or at a reduced wattage, for example one-half the normal wattage, thereby decreasing the heat generated and increasing the duration of the automatically timed cycle.
It is well known in cooking art that a relatively high temperature will surface brown bread or the like in a short time while leaving the interior mostly unchanged, whereas the food article can be cooked or browned throughout quite evenly if the article were subjected to a lower temperature over a longer period of time. This principle was utilized in the toaster art as exemplified in U.S. Pat. No. 2,285,156 providing a toaster which, in addition to operating at a normal toasting temperature, would operate at a lower temperature to prepare "Melba" toast. In this toaster the reduction in temperature was accomplished through a thermostatically controlled switch operative only when "Melba" was desired with the length of the cycle for either operation determined manually.
Another example of a toaster serving a purpose in addition to toasting is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,711,684 wherein a toaster is shown to include a grilling surface and a switch controlling which heater elements are operative during its separate functions. This toaster has an automatically timed cycle when operating as a toaster but not when functioning as a grill.
The present invention provides an automatic toaster, which can also be used to prepare convenience foods, having an automatically timed cycle for either mode of operation and which utilizes a reduced temperature heating cycle operative for a longer period of time to thoroughly thaw or cook the frozen and convenience foods. More specifically this invention provides an automatic toaster with an adjustable heat responsive "doneness" control and means for reducing the wattage of the toaster, and thereby the heat generated by the heaters, between a normal toasting level and a reduced convenience foods preparation level, with the "doneness" control automatically providing a longer cycle at the reduced wattage setting.
Accordingly, the general object of this invention is to provide a new and improved toaster.
It is a more particular object of this invention to provide a new and improved control for a popup-type toaster.
Another object of this invention is to provide a new and improved control for a toaster wherein the toaster can be selectively operated at different power levels depending on the type of food to be prepared.
Still another object of this invention is to provide, in a toaster, a "doneness" control which can be readily calibrated for operation of the toaster at full wattage or at reduced wattage.